Bulldog isn’t the only blogger I was reminded of yesterday. This post seems to be following in the magical styles of Andrea who gives clear directions to would-be travelers when she visits other countries; minus the whole clarity thing she employs. And Ann who shares photos that complement the themes of her posts; minus the whole stay on theme bit she uses.

Stephen Avenue, downtown Calgary

Leaving Central Memorial Park, I walked 4 blocks north and turned east onto Stephen Avenue. This is what I saw. Canadians everywhere, in every direction!

It’s not very clear, but if you click on the above picture and squint at the bottom right hand corner, you can almost see the table with cowboy hats for sale. And that’s because starting on Friday we’ll be welcoming hundreds of thousands of tourists who will be coming to the 102nd Annual Calgary Stampede and Exhibition!

What’s that I am hearing? I continued east to follow the music and came upon these two guys…

These two guys were rocking the original Spider Man theme – it was amazing!

When they were done playing is the exact moment I spotted that very Canadian family in my first photo. So now that you’re caught up, let’s just move along, shall we? 😀

Olympic Plaza is located at the end of Stephen Avenue

A whole gaggle of Canadians were gathered at Olympic Plaza and asked by the emcee to sing Happy Birthday to Canada.

How bossy!

She also told us to tweet out about the goings on using #IamDowntown or #OCanadayyc so I tweeted this picture out.

I am so compliant.

Hey! Stop laughing!

I didn’t stick around at Olympic Plaza, deciding instead to head north again into the East Village.

Two Canadians on bikes in the East Village

Look at all those Canadian flags on the roof of that building!

5 Canadians heading west on the River Walk

I turned west and stalked walked behind this family. I snapped this picture because I’ve just always thought that photos of people walking away were cool.

I’ve seen family portraits like that, they’re awesome – you should do a family shot like that – seriously!

Why are you still here??

An electronic Canadian flag

Centre Street Bridge, Calgary Alberta

I stopped to shoot this picture because I was remembering that last year at this time, the Bow River was so high that it almost covered that arch. As a matter of fact, the place I stood to take this picture was under water last year. If you click to enlarge the photo you’ll see that there is also vehicle traffic at a lower level below the arch.

Along the River Walk

Oh Look! Another Canadian Family!

They’ve been in Calgary since 1990. They’re originally from Newfoundland, and although I’ve never been to Newfoundland, I have met many Newfoundlanders and they are, by far, in my humble opinion, the friendliest people on earth!

See that little girl in the front? Did you notice her totally awesome over-the-shoulder-hand-bag? Well, when I told the family I was a blogger and asked to take their picture, she immediately insisted on putting my business card in her purse when I offered it. ❤

As I was walking away, I asked myself, “What kind of Nut Job asks complete strangers if she can take their picture?” Oh well…it’s not like I’m going to change that about myself any time soon. 🙂

Just a Canadian girl sitting by the river with her Canadian dad

I took a picture of this Canadian, who was taking a picture of another Canadian

Another flock of Canadians…

Everywhere I went, every direction I looked, every time I turned around, I saw one or more Canadians.

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79 thoughts on “So…Yesterday, I Went To A Birthday Party…”

Just to clarify, Diana … We only had one bad day involving a dining experience in Montreal. I don’t want to judge that gorgeous city on a rude waiter or two. 😉 Our other visits in that city were wonderful. Quebec also was very welcoming. 😉

When we first planned to visit Paris, several people warned us about how rude Parisians were to Americans. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We had an excellent time there and have visited there four times.

Well, I’m so sorry that we missed this party. The farthest north we got on our travels was Syracuse where we did see a lot of Canadians. But they were Canada Geese just wandering thru Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool, NY. We also visited Watkins Glen by Seneca River.

I loved your photos and story, Diana – especially the “I’m so compliant” tweet. Very amusing. I think that I’d react the same way. We’ve loved our visits to Canada at Algonquin Park, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto when we lived in Syracuse. Thank you for the happy reminders that there’s a whole other section of Canada that we have yet to see. 😉

Diana … Thanks for the offer to be our tour guide. We did love Montreal. While we did have one bad experience there while dining out, we had several more delightful ones that prompted us to return. I loved the city’s vibrancy, its great food and the music – jazz – that we heard on the street while heading to another great restaurant.

We also bought two lithographs in Montreal that make me chuckle every time I look at them. One is by Normand Hudon, “L’objet d’art du Balcon d’art” (1988). Nuns are leaving an art exhibit carrying the painting they’re in as priests head toward the same shop. The other is by John Der, “Papa c’est a ton tour.” It’s of a little hockey player waking up his very sleepy Dad to go play hockey. 😉

I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience in Montreal. In the rest of Canada I often hear people say that Quebecers are rude. It was not my experience growing up there, but I think I understand why others think that.

When I first moved out west, I had to learn not to say everything that popped into my head, or offer my unsolicited opinion to everyone. Apparently, that’s rude.. who knew?

Quecbers shoot from the hip, they are direct. They don’t mean harm. They’re simply starting a discussion… and if they tell you that you look stupid in that dress, they’re just doing you a favour…

I spent Canada Day watching whales and icebergs while sailing in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, where we’ve only been Canadians for 65 years! I’m a seventh generation Newfoundlander, but only a 1st generation Canadian!

First of all: Jennifer sent me! Second: I love this post! I am one of those stalkers who takes pictures of people walking away. There is just something fun about that. And second: Yes! I am one of those nut jobs who asks people if I can take their picture (when I am not taking a pic of them walking away), and they always say ‘yes.’ Happy Birthday to Canada and Happy Fourth to me in the USA!. Great post, Diana.

What fun! I love all your photos, and yes, even the family walking away. I always do those at the end of a portrait session. Canada Day is always such fun! My BFF lives in Toronto and I try to spend at least a month with her each year. She always gets so tickled at how much I love the Canadian flag. She always buys me maple leaf items when I’m there. 🙂

Sure were some patriotic folks that you met. Glad the weather was fabulous in Calgary. We enjoyed C-day (sounds like a Caesarean birth.) in Vancouver. Went for a 52 km. ride which included an evening ride to a large free botanical garden with a rise and view of city.

Happy Canada Day! Great photos and an interesting post. As a serious hockey family, we’ve enjoyed your awesome country on countless weekends over the years. If my son is playing in Canada, we know the team he’s playing is going to be GOOD!

Now that I realise you assisted the Brits in their war against us, I need to reassess our friendship… Oh what the hell you are to nice not to like and remain friends with… although your friendly banter with the Americans might just have a return now from the South Africans … lol… I loved this post and definitely not your normal, but it was so enjoyable you should do it more often…
Just for your info in case you didn’t know… 244 Canadians, all volunteers died in the Boer War… not the best of wars for the British and their colonies… seeing it was the British that started the concentration camps that gained such popularity by the Germans in the second world war… 26 000 women and children lost their lives to diseases in these camps… Oh well it all happened so many years ago now that all is forgiven… just thought you might like a bit of our history…

I am not a Canadian, but I am a fellow nut job! I totally take strangers’ pictures all the time. Sometimes I even tell them afterward that they’ll be in my blog, Diana, and give them my card, just like you did. Sometimes I just put their pictures in my blog, no notice at all. Maybe that’s even nuttier, I suppose.

Congratulations on making me feel totally left out for not being a Canadian yesterday. I love the color and pageantry of Canadian day in Calgary. It was beautiful, and you caught it very well, indeed. I’m glad the arch is again an arch and not an underwater fish ornament.

Let’s see. On Canada’s big day, I was writing two blogger blog stories, and I was going to city hall in downtown Syracuse to play my quarterly taxes, and I was golfing in my golf league. On Friday, my dear wife Karen and I will be doing something to celebrate America’s birthday. We want to see fireworks, but haven’t decided where yet.

I love all your pictures today, Diana, and the post did not seem long at all to me. 🙂

If you and Karen ever make it to Calgary for a visit, I will declare you honourary Canadians and provide tour guide services to you in Calgary and to our national park in Banff!

I noticed you said you were playing your quarterly taxes. Did you mean paying. Or was it a clever way to compare paying your taxes to playing the lottery; as in you never know if you’re going to win or lose?

Thank you for graciously making your way through my unusually long post Mark.

Dear Diana,
What a beautiful story about Canada Day and the people. Dad and myself are so proud to be Canadians. There is no other Country like that where people can enjoy the freedom and we are so happy and thankful for all the things we were able to achieve and to give our children a better future.
Happy Canada Day.

I feel as if I was there with you, Diana. Wonderful, wonderful photos! Calgary did Canada proud on her birthday. 🙂
We painted our little town, and ourselves, red and white as well. There were walking parades, shows, music, bbqs, cake, flag-raisings, and fireworks. Everyone was in a patriotic community spirit. We had such fun.
Thanks for mentioning the friendly Newfoundlanders. xo

I would never make such a bold claim Bill! I said they ‘looked’ Canadian…and I believe that besides the red, there are maple leafs and the word Canada or Canadian all over their clothes too! 😀
Diana xo